Danny Ings
Daniel William John "Danny" Ings (born 23 July 1992) is an English footballer who played as a striker for Liverpool from 2015 to 2019. Liverpool career After a disappointing 2014-15 season for the strikers at the club, with Mario Balotelli, Daniel Sturridge, Rickie Lambert and Fabio Borini managing just 7 league goals combined, Brendan Rodgers was on the hunt for a striker to add more goals to the team. Interest in Ings was rumoured as early as January 2015. On 8 June 2015, it was confirmed that personal terms had been agreed with Ings, and he would sign for the club on after the expiry of his contract on 1 July, pending a medical and the agreement of a fee to be paid to Burnley due to the striker being under the age of 23. On 22 June 2015, Ings confirmed that he would wear the number 28 shirt at the club. The move was confirmed on 8 July. The striker said "As soon as I knew that Liverpool were interested, it was a no-brainer. It was the only club on my mind, to be fair. And now that it has happened, it's fantastic for me and my family." Just under a week later, Ings made his non-competitive debut for the club, playing the first 45 minutes in the first game of pre-season, a 4-0 win over the Thailand Premier League XI. The striker had a goal wrongly disallowed, and played a good game overall. A week later, the striker opened his account for the Reds in a 2-0 win in Adelaide, receiving a through-ball from Nathaniel Clyne and taking it around the keeper before slotting it into the net. After staying on the bench for the first three games, On 29 August 2015, Ings finally made his Liverpool debut, coming on as a 60th minute substitute in a 3-0 home defeat to West Ham. In the next game, Ings made his first start for the club away to Manchester United, and put in a decent shift on the left wing, before being substituted in the 74th minute. A week later, Ings scored his first Liverpool goal to open the scoring against Norwich, after coming in at half time. He controlled a long ball from Alberto Moreno well, before carrying on into the box and putting the ball through the legs on John Ruddy. Norwich however went on to equalise, and the game finished 1-1. Three days later, Ings started in a League Cup 3rd round tie at home to Carlisle, and opened the scoring in the 23rd minute, heading home from an Adam Lallana cross. Ings also scored a penalty in the shootout, as the Reds progressed to the next round. On 4 October 2015, Ings scored the opening goal in the Merseyside Derby, being given all the space in the world to head home from a James Milner corner. The game however, ended 1-1, and proved to be Brendan Rodgers final game in charge of the club. On 15 October 2015 however, it was confirmed that Ings had suffered a cruciate knee injury, just as Joe Gomez had days before, which is set to rule him out for around six months. After this, Ings was voted the September Player of the Month by Liverpool fans. On 15 May 2016, Ings made his long awaited return, coming on as a substitute in a 1-1 draw at West Brom. Ings made a full return on the opening day of pre-season, captaining the Reds for 45 minutes, and scoring the winning goal in a 1-0 win at Tranmere. On 25 October 2016, Ings came on as a substitute, playing half an hour in a 2-1 win over Tottenham. In an awful turn of events for the striker, Ings suffered a second consecutive season-ending injury, this time in his other knee. Ings once again returned to action in pre-season, and returned to competitive action as a substitute in a 2-0 League Cup defeat at Leicester. On 10 December 2017, Ings made his first Premier League appearance in 19 months, coming on as a late substitute in a 1-1 draw to Everton. On 7 April 2018, Ings made his first Liverpool start since October 2015, almost playing the whole 90 minutes in a goalless draw away to Everton, the fixture in which he had last started. Two weeks later, Ings scored his first goal in over two years, opening the scoring in a 2-2 draw with West Brom. After struggling to make an impression on the first-team squad throughout the season, reports stated that Ings was to be moved on by Liverpool in the summer transfer window, with apparent interest from clubs around the country. On 9 August 2018, it was confirmed that Ings would spend the 2018-19 season on loan at Southampton, and would move to the Saints on a permanent deal at the end of the year, for a fee of £20,000,000. Ings made 25 appearances for Liverpool, scoring 4 goals. Honours Individual *Standard Chartered Player of the Month: 1 (September 2015) Stats Category:Former Players Category:Forwards